IF
by NajwaBarlaam
Summary: ON HIATUS - Sequel to Among Her Least Favorite People. Follows Harry and Logan through Hogwarts. Should incorporate  but alter  a lot of the plot of the later books. Will deal with Lily, James, the prophecy, and Voldemort.
1. Thoughtful

_This is the sequel to Among Her Least Favorite People. It probably won't make sense unless you've read that, so I'd encourage you to do so first. _

_I'd post a link, but apparently that's not something this website allows. Weird. Anyway, if you click on my name to get to my profile, you can get it there. _

_ To those of you who have read it, I just want to warn you that this will be more from Harry and Logan's perspective. There will still be some Lily and James (I mean, at some point he'll need to find out about the prophecy, and we'll definitely have to see how he feels about __**that**__ whole situation), but they won't be primary._

_

* * *

_

Logan watched as the owls swooped in to deliver mail. Most of her friends back home were baffled by her inability to respond to e-mails and facebook, and had no idea how she and Harry could possibly survive without cell phones. Really only Lazlo wrote on a regular basis. It was a bit strange when the only person who bothered to maintain a friendship with you was actually your brother's best friend. Then again, he'd always been a bit odd, so she shouldn't be surprised he embraced the whole letter writing thing.

She smiled when one of the school owls dropped a letter in front of her. She ripped it open immediately and began reading.

* * *

_Dear Logan,_

_ Sorry I haven't written for a while. Been busy working on a project for photography. I finally talked Anderson into incorporating some videography into the class. I sent the finished copy along to Harry, if you want to check it out. I didn't think it made sense to send two, since I'm not even sure you'll be allowed to use a DVD player at a school that doesn't allow computers. I mean, seriously, how can you two be expected to cope in the technology age if you can't use the tools you need to survive?_

_ Anyway, write back and let me know how everything's going. Try to include some details this time, ok? "Classes are good, the students suck, and I miss everyone back home," is not a particularly enlightening letter. Harry said he met your dad. Are you spending time with him too or are you boycotting him on principle? _

_Miss you,_

_Lazlo_

_PS The other day I blew up a chemistry experiment and no one even gave me shit for it. So, just know that when I say I miss you, I mean it. Apparently you're irreplaceable. Or possibly you guys were just the only people in town with an actual sense of humor._

* * *

Logan smiled as she read over the letter. She would have to come up with some details to give him. She couldn't really talk about James though, given that Lazlo couldn't know he wasn't really her dad. Then again, James claimed he didn't care about the genetics, so maybe she could just leave that part out. It might be nice to have someone to talk to about the whole situation who wasn't personally invested in it.

She glanced over at Harry. He was reading over a similar letter. She noticed he had a package to go with his. Folding up her letter, she rose and went over to greet her brother.

"Hey," she said, as she approached the table.

Harry blushed and slid something onto his lap under the table. "Hey," he responded in an overly loud voice.

"Good morning, Logan. You're looking lovely today," one of the Weasleys said. She could never tell which one was which, but she was pretty sure only one of them liked her. She might have to ask Harry which one it was, so she wasn't always having to guess at their names. Then again, Harry tended to get weird about anything to do with her and guys. Apparently it was an older brother thing. Not that he was actually older.

She eyed her brother suspiciously. "Watcha got there? Laz said he sent something along for us to look at."

"Nope," Harry responded, shaking his head quickly and flushing. "Definitely not. Don't know what you're on about."

Logan furrowed her brow. "Really? You sure it's not that thing you're hiding?"

Harry made a confused face, which she didn't buy for a minute, and shook his head again.

Logan sighed. "Accio," she said, and watched as the item he was holding flew toward her. She jumped back in surprise when Harry dived after it. Recovering quickly, she petrified him and yanked the package out of his fingers, giving him a baffled look.

She tore it open, surprised that it was more the size of a magazine than a DVD. Glancing at the cover, she doubled over in a fit of laughter. Harry dove for the magazine again and tackled her to the ground in the process. He must have fought off the curse when she was distracted.

He wrestled the magazine from her grasp, only to have it taken immediately from his hands by their mother. Apparently wrestling and cursing were not acceptable behavior during breakfast.

Logan glanced up, fighting to keep a straight face. She watched as her mom assessed the magazine, giving her points for not losing so much as an ounce of composure. Logan sneaked a glance at Harry, who had turned twelve shades of red.

She looked back at her mom when she heard her sigh.

"Tell Lazlo I'm sure you can find this sort of thing here if you put some effort into it," Lily said calmly.

Logan snorted as Harry added a thirteenth shade of red. She jumped up and snatched the magazine out of her mom's hand, flipping through the pages.

"Logan," her mom chastised.

"There's a reprint of the John Lennon interview in here. Come on mom. That's practically historic," Logan argued.

"Somehow," Lily responded dryly, "I have a feeling Playboy would be on Filch's list of banned items."

Logan snorted. "Probably so he can confiscate them when muggleborns bring them in. He's probably got a file cabinet full of them that he sorts through on a regular basis. It's important to keep these things organized, you know."

"Lo," her mother said.

Logan huffed out a breath. "Filch has a very devoted cat," she said, rolling her eyes.

Her mother held out her hand.

"Oi!" One of the twins exclaimed. "Bloody Hell! Do you see this George?" He nudged his brother, who leaned in for a better look.

Logan sighed, handing over the magazine. "Fine," she said. "You have to give Lazlo credit though," she grinned. "I mean, it was really a fairly thoughtful gift. It's not as though Harry has access to the internet here."

"Logan!" Harry shouted, turning another shade of red.

Logan grinned back cheekily. "Just saying," she responded.

Lily picked up the envelope the magazine had been in and slid it back into place. Shaking her head, she went to sit back up at the head table.

"Ten to one odds say one of the male teachers confiscates it," Logan offered. She surveyed the table. "My money's on Snape," she decided.

George blinked at her. "You have a disturbing mind," he said.

"And a massive nose," Harry added.

Logan smiled. "Fair enough. I wasn't trying to embarrass you," she said in a placating tone. "I promise. Lazlo just said he sent a DVD of his latest video. That's all I thought it was."

Harry glared at her. "Really? Because I've never seen a DVD that big."

"I did think it was a bit strange," Logan agreed with a shrug. "But it didn't occur to me it would be a Playboy. I mean, you'd think he'd at least warn you to open it in private."

"He did," Harry growled. "But you summoned it out of my hand and opened it in the Great Hall."

Logan scrunched up her nose. "Yeah," she said. "Sorry about that."

Harry sighed. "Water. Bridge. All that," he said.

Logan smiled. "So . . . did he forget to actually send the DVD?"

"No," Harry responded. "It's here. But I don't see what good it'll do you. It's not as though we have a DVD player. Or electricity."

"What's a DVD player?" Fred asked.

"Forget that. What 's a Playboy?" George elbowed his way into the conversation.

"Huh," Logan said, eying the twins. "I never thought about how that worked in the wizarding world. Honestly, you'd think por-"

"Can we not?" Harry cut in. "Please?"

Logan laughed. "If you'd prefer," she said in a sugary voice. "Can I have the DVD?" she asked. "I want to try to come up with a way to play it. I figure there has to be a way that doesn't involve electricity. Magic is so much more versatile than technology," she said, considering the issue.

Harry shrugged and handed her the disc. "Good luck," he said.

She nodded her thanks and wandered out of the Great Hall, but not before she heard George repeat his question about the magazine.

* * *

_So there's chapter one of the sequel. I'm not sure I've got people's voices back quite right, but I think I'll sort that out with a little time. Similarly, I seem to have grown a bit lazy about editing. I still revise and edit, but I've stopped letting it sit for a day or two so that I catch the little typos. If you're finding it difficult to read because there are a lot of mistakes, please let me know. On a related note, if anyone who's already reading this does beta reading and would like to do so for IF (and explain to me how that whole process works), pm and let me know. I'd be down to give it a try. _

_-Naj _


	2. Thing of Beauty

Harry turned back to George. "Don't worry about it," he said.

"Don't worry about it?" George scoffed. "Those were pictures of naked women. Do you really expect me to just let it go?" He turned to Fred, widening his eyes. "We could make a killing selling those on the sly," he suggested.

Harry watched as a grin spread across Fred's face. "That's a point," Fred agreed, considering the idea.

"I bet we'd have enough to open our joke shop within a year," George said.

"Do you really want to make your fortune selling porn?" Harry asked.

Fred wrapped his arm around Harry's shoulder. "Means to an end, mate. Means to an end," he repeated, leading him out of the room.

George followed, nodding his agreement. "We just want to pick your brain about some things," he said.

Harry sighed, recognizing there would be no escape.

* * *

"I just don't see how you can get them past Filch," Harry was saying. Somehow he'd been dragged into the whole business. He was fairly sure if the twins got caught, he'd go down in flames with them. As a result, it was paramount to his survival that they not get caught. His mum might be amused by one magazine, but he didn't see her taking it calmly if he was caught helping with a black market porn industry at Hogwarts.

"That's easy," George said, brushing off Harry's concern.

Fred nodded. "We've only to set up a middle man outside of Hogwarts. We can get the magazines in through the secret passageways."

"Secret passageways?" Harry inquired.

"Yup," Fred nodded. He glanced over at George, who gave him a nod. Then Fred pulled a piece of parchment out of his pocket.

"This is just between us, mind," George said.

"Yeah," Fred agreed. "You start running your mouth about it and we'll have to hex you into oblivion."

"And disown you as a friend, of course," George added.

Harry gave them a baffled look. "Listen," he said. "I have a feeling I'd rather not know."

"Nonsense," Fred waved away Harry's concern.

"Trust us, you'll want to see this," George agreed.

"You'll just need to keep it to yourself," Fred commented.

George simply nodded.

"Alright," Harry cautiously agreed.

"Good then," George said.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," Fred said, tapping on the parchment. Harry watched as words spread across the page and a map appeared. He leaned over for a better look.

"Thing of beauty, isn't it?" George said, grinning.

"Secret to our success," Fred added.

Harry examined the map. "This is fantastic. Did you make it?" he asked.

"Nah," George shook his head. "Nicked it," he said.

"In first year," Fred added. "People think jokeshops are the best place to find a bit of fun –"

"—but really Filch has the best of the lot," George continued.

Fred nodded. "He doesn't confiscate the shite."

"His office is like a bloody treasure chest," George added, with feeling.

Harry grinned. "Is it accurate?" he asked.

"Down to the tiniest detail," Fred nodded effusively.

"And it can't lie," George added.

Harry's eyes skimmed over the map. He searched out his sister. Continuing on, he found his mother's dot as it moved out of the Great Hall. He scanned over the names at the Gryffindor table and saw one that made his heart stop.

"Can I borrow this?" he asked, trying to keep his voice casual.

Fred and George eyed him suspiciously. "Why?" they asked in unison.

Harry forced himself to give them a conspiratorial smile. "I'm not quite in the mood for class today, and I'm betting this is a fantastic aid in skipping them."

The twins silently consulted each other. After a moment, they both nodded.

"Who are we to interfere with a young lad's desire to skive off for a day?" George asked.

Fred nodded. "It's almost our duty to aid him in this most solemn moment."

"A sort of coming of age," George agreed.

Fred handed Harry the map with a grin. "Just don't forget to wipe the map when you finish," he said.

"Give it a quick tap and say 'Mischief Managed,' and anyone will believe it's just an old bit of parchment," George explained.

"Thanks," Harry said, clapping them both on the back. "Well, I'm off. Let me know what plan you work out for the imports."

The twins nodded and went back to their scheming.

Harry glanced down at the map again, trying not to make his haste too obvious. He'd just seen a dot with the name Peter Pettigrew on it. And it was making its way toward his mother.

* * *

_Dun Dun Dun _

_Here goes nothing. Hope you guys like both the similarities to and differences from Ms. Rowling's masterful work. _

_-Naj_


	3. Mandatory Talent

Harry sprinted toward his mum's first hour class. He swung through the door right as she began the lesson.

"Harry?" she questioned.

He spared enough attention to throw her a reassuring smile. His mother tended to jump to the worst conclusions. Not that she didn't have good reason, in a lot of cases.

"Hi," he said, forcing a cheerful voice. "I've first hour off, and I thought I'd come observe."

She gave him her suspicious look, but he simply raised his eyebrows at her. They both knew she wouldn't interrogate him in front of her fourth years. They had too many secrets that couldn't be discussed in public.

"Alright," she said in a skeptical voice. "Why don't you take a seat in the back?"

He smiled and acquiesced. He could look for Pettigrew and watch out for his mum just as well from the back of the class as from the front.

The moment he sat down he pulled out the map. He kept half an ear out for her lesson, so that he could answer reasonably if questioned later. Mostly he focused on watching the map.

Pettigrew was listed as sitting with Ronald Weasley. Harry recognized him immediately. He hadn't spent any time with the Weasley's younger brother, but the red hair gave him away right off the bat.

The strange thing was, no one was sitting near him. A boy named Dean Thomas was on his right. And another named Seamus Finnegan was on his left. In between Ron and Seamus should have been Pettigrew, but there was no one to be seen.

When his mum had them break into pairs to practice stunning spells and shield charms, he immediately volunteered to help. The shield charm was actually the goal of the class, but Harry got the distinct impression the fourth year Gryffindors were more excited about stupefying each other.

His mother gave him another skeptical look at his offer of help, but agreed readily enough. Harry quickly moved toward Weasley and Finnegan. He circled Ron all around, but was disappointed not to run into an invisible Pettigrew.

"Right then," Harry said. "Go on."

He watched as Ron attempted to stupefy Finnegan, who got his shield charm up just in time. Seamus danced a little victory dance as Ron glowered at him.

"Don't worry. Everyone has trouble stunning someone who's ready for it. Stunning is most useful when they don't know exactly what's coming," Harry commented.

"Yeah, but don't they always know?" Ron complained. "I mean, I have to say the bloody word, don't I? It's not as though anyone is going to hear the word _stupefy _and think, _right, so he must be intending to freeze me._ Until we do nonverbal spells, it's a bit of a dead giveaway."

Harry shrugged, unconcerned. "You could try it nonverbally, but it'll be a bitch until you master it verbally."

His mother gave him a look. Really, the woman had ears like a hawk. And anyway, she should be tending to her class, not making sure he kept his language clean for the little fourth years.

Harry smiled cheekily at her. "What? It'll be a _hitch_. You know, like a hitch in his step," he invented calmly, not thinking for a moment she'd buy it.

She did a slight eye roll and returned to correcting students.

Harry watched as Seamus once again blocked Ron's spell. "You could mix it up a little. The shield charm defends against more than _stupefy_," he explained. "Why not toss in a few other spells? Throw him off his game," he suggested.

Ron grinned, seeming to like the idea. He started throwing other spells at Finnegan, who indeed seemed to have more trouble with the variation.

When his mum started eying him, Harry moved on to another group. Wouldn't do to have her suspecting his appearance had something to do with Weasley. There was no sense in worrying her until he knew the score. And he certainly wasn't going to say anything to Logan about Pettigrew until he knew for certain what was going on. There was no reason to hurt her needlessly.

Harry moved over to Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom. He quickly realized that Granger didn't need any help, and Longbottom was already getting one on one attention from the talented fourth year.

He made his way over to Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown. These two were ecstatic to have his help, but Harry had the distinct impression their motives were not entirely pure. He offered occasional advice as Lavender attempted to stun Parvati. Unfortunately, her shot went wide – probably due to all the giggling and coy looks she was giving Harry – and managed to stun Hermione Granger instead.

Trying not to roll his eyes too much, Harry went over to check on the girl.

"_Renervate,_" he said.

She gave him an annoyed look. "I think you might be doing more harm than good," she complained.

He grinned. "You might be right," he said.

Once he was satisfied she was fine, if a bit ornery, he made his way back over to Ron Weasely. For the life of him, he could not figure out how Peter Pettigrew could be there and not there at the same time.

A part of him wanted to write the whole thing off and assume the map was wrong. But then, the Weasleys tended to take trouble-making seriously, if nothing else. And Harry could spot a lie at a dozen paces. His mother considered it a mandatory talent.

When the class ended, Harry consoled himself that even if he hadn't solved the mystery of Pettigrew's name on the map, at least he had provided backup for him mum – even if she didn't know it.

* * *

_Hope you liked the little cameos by some old friends._ _You can expect to see more of at least one of them pretty soon._

_-Naj  
_


	4. Talk?

Lily looked up when she heard a knock at her door.

"Come in," she called.

She smiled when she saw James stroll through the door. He walked directly to her and gave her a kiss. Not the kind of kiss she was used to from him. Not the kind that said he was trying to get her into bed as quickly as possible. Not the kind that said he was trying to make her forget whatever he had done to hurt her. The kind that just said hello. She smiled against his mouth.

"I hope you don't mind I came around," he said. "I know we hadn't planned for it –"

Lily cut him off with another kiss. "I don't mind," she said, pulling back to lean her forehead against his.

He leaned in again, pressing his mouth against hers and pulling her up. As he steered her toward the bedroom, Lily decided maybe there were some things that would never change.

* * *

James lay in bed, spooned against her. He idly stroked his hand up and down her side, wondering why she hadn't spoken in the last several minutes.

"You alright?" he asked.

She nodded, laying her hand over his. He smiled as she began to fiddle with his fingers. He wondered if it was a nervous gesture. He didn't remember her being a particularly nervous person. Then again, he didn't think he had paid very good attention. He wondered what she had to be nervous about.

Deciding he shouldn't press, he simply dropped a kiss on her shoulder.

She rolled to face him, giving him the perfect opportunity to tuck her hair behind her ear. It was amazing how much the little things seemed to matter to him this time around.

"Do you think we should talk?" she asked in a quiet voice.

He did a slow blink. "Is this the kind of talk where you tell me you don't want to see me anymore, or the kind of talk where you tell me about your day?" he asked carefully.

Her lips curved slightly, and he had to resist the urge to kiss the corners of them where they turned up. She might think he wasn't taking her seriously if he did that, and he didn't want to give her the wrong impression.

"The kind where we acknowledge that we don't really know each other anymore," she said.

James thought about it. He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. He brought her hand with him and began tracing the lines on her palm.

"I think I know you better now than I did then," he said. "Then all I saw was a Slytherin that I couldn't resist." He brought her hand up and kissed her palm. "Now I see you."

"Me?" she asked. "Or your fantasy of me?"

He thought about it. "You. I don't think my fantasy of you would have hidden the fact that she had my child and then maintained that it was the right choice." He felt her tense.

"I know I hurt you, but you have to understand –"

He shook his head. "I do," he said. "Well, sort of anyway. But I can't regret your choice, because if you had told me, you would never have had to take the position as a housekeeper, and then Logan would never have come into any of our lives."

"Yeah," she said. It was amazing how much meaning she put into the single syllable.

"Anyway," he said, forcing himself to move past it. "My fantasy of you probably wouldn't be quite so stubborn," he explained, rolling over to grin at her. "But then, I've found that we seldom know exactly what's best for us."

She smiled at him, curling in to him. "Do you want to tell me how your day was, then?" she asked.

"Well," he said. "Up until about an hour again, it was very long and very tedious." He couldn't resist twisting a lock of her hair around his finger. "How about you?"

"Good," she said. "Strange. Harry showed up in my first hour class – the fourth year Gryffindors – to 'observe.' And he claimed he had no ulterior motives."

"Is it possible he just misses spending more time with you?" he asked.

"No," she said. "Well, yes. But if that had been it, he would have said so." She shook her head. "But he wouldn't give that as an excuse. He wouldn't lie and say he was there because he missed me if he was there for some other reason. He'd consider that out of order." She sighed. "I'm not used to him hiding things from me."

James grinned. "Maybe it has something to do with girls," he said.

Lily rolled her eyes. "He's not you James, even if the resemblance is uncanny."

"What?" he laughed. "It's the most obvious answer. The number one thing teenage boys won't tell their mothers about is anything at all to do with girls. Maybe he got shut down and wanted to avoid the girl until he recovered," James shrugged.

Lily shook her head. "No. I've seen him after breakups. It wasn't that."

James turned to face her. "Will you tell me about it?" he asked. When she raised an eyebrow, he felt compelled to explain. "It's just, I feel like that's something I should have been there for, you know. Fathers are supposed to give their sons advice about girls."

"And what would your advice have been?" Lily asked, raising one eyebrow.

James thought it over. "Do as I say, not as I did," he decided, earning a laugh. "Will you tell me?" he asked again.

"Well . . ." Lily began. As she related the tales of her son's exploits, she didn't even realize she'd forgotten to worry about why he had appeared in her classroom that morning.

* * *

_As requested, more Lily and James. Hope you enjoyed. _

_- Naj  
_


	5. Why?

When James appeared on the following Saturday, none of the Evans family was surprised to see him. Logan was still a bit skeptical, but with a bit of prodding, she found herself sitting around the table in her mum's quarters with the rest of her family.

"So, how exactly does this work?" James asked.

Lily smiled. Logan still thought it was weird to see her mum look at anyone like that, but she figured she'd get used to it eventually.

"It's simple," Lily explained. "You just have to get your teammate to say whatever word is on the top of the card, without saying any of the words listed. The goal is to get as many cards as you can in a minute."

"What are the teams?" Harry asked. Logan thought he had seemed distracted all week, but she wasn't going to press. Especially not after the Playboy fiasco. He might just still be pissed.

"How about us against them?" Logan suggested to Harry, who agreed easily.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Should I take this as some repressed rebellious tendency coming out to play?" she asked.

"It's not as though we can go party or anything," Logan said.

Harry laughed. "Yeah, honestly mum, if the worst you have to deal with is the occasional Taboo challenge," he shrugged, "well, you're a hell of a lot better off than Andy's parents."

"Plus, we all know you guys are going to get creamed, so . . ." Lily left the rest of the sentence hanging.

Logan exchanged a look with Harry. "Man," she said. "She's already talking smack."

"We might have to do an intervention," Harry commented, nodding seriously and putting on a concerned expression.

Logan laid her hand over her mum's. "It's just that we love you," she said. "And we think sometimes the spirit of competition controls you."

Lily glanced at James sideways. "Apparently they think I get a little too into it," she explained.

Harry patted her on the back. "The first step is admitting you have a problem."

"Thank you, Dr. Phil," Lily replied, getting a laugh from both kids. "Can we start now?"

Logan shared another look with Harry. "Like a crack fiend," she said.

"Always looking for her next fix," Harry added.

James looked baffled. "What's a crack fiend?" he asked.

All three of them laughed this time. "Trust me, you don't want to know. It'll only give you nightmares," Lily explained, shaking her head. "Here," she said, tossing the little container of cards to Harry, "you guys start."

"Oh, man," Logan said, "Someone's getting cocky."

Harry laughed. When his mum flipped over the timer, he put up his first card.

"Ummm . . . we usually open one present the night before this morning," he said.

"Christmas?" Logan tried.

"And that's the name of a . . ."

"Holiday?"

"Bingo," Harry said, tossing the card onto the table.

"Alright. In the kitchen next to the light switch by the door is the . . ."

"Thermostat."

"Nice," Harry said, tossing another card down.

"Ok," he said, pulling up the next card. "You always thought Emily Vaughn was a . . ."

"Horrible bitch?" Logan tried. Casting a look at her mom, she sighed. "But she has fantastic hair."

Harry laughed. "But you thought she was horrible because she was . . ."

"Mean? Cruel?"

Harry made waving motions with his hands, keeping an eye on the timer.

"Skanky? Nasty? Viciou-" She stopped when she saw Harry toss the card down.

"Got it in the nick of time," he said, high-fiving her. "It was 'nasty,' which in this case I might have to admit is valid."

At their mum's look, they both sighed.

"She has a nice car," Logan offered.

"She was pretty good at art," Harry decided.

James gave them both a baffled look. "Why do you do that? Whenever you say anything negative about someone, you always tack on a positive comment."

Harry laughed. "Mum thinks you can always find something positive to say about a person."

"Which is true," Logan admitted, "But in Emily Vaughn's case, I don't think she deserves it."

"Logan," Lily admonished.

"What?" Logan huffed. "This is the girl who pretended to like Lazlo, invited him over to her birthday party, and then she and her horrible little friends threw eggs at him when he rode up on his bicycle."

"It _was_ pretty vicious," Harry agreed.

"That was a long time ago. You were what? In seventh grade? A lot of people aren't at their best at that age," Lily said.

Logan worked very hard not to glance at James. She thought Harry might have been doing the same.

"I can vouch for that," James said, obviously noticing their determined lack of reaction.

"You're right," Logan said. "Now she's moved on to cheating on Josh Duncan with his brother, which is definitely a huge improvement on tormenting Lazlo."

Harry laughed. "Only because you don't like Josh Duncan."

Logan blinked at him. "I don't have anything against Josh," she said.

"You turned him down for a date like twelve hundred times," Harry pointed out.

"Well, yeah," Logan agreed. "I don't want to _date_ him, but that doesn't mean I think he deserves to get chewed up and spit out. I mean, he does, since you know what you're getting with Vaughn, but still. I don't wish him ill or anything. He's nice enough. He's just, you know, really boring. I don't think I've ever heard him talk about anything other than cars and women."

Harry laughed. "Yeah, you really go for the gregarious type. I remember that about Lacey. That boy just couldn't seem to shut up," he said.

Logan rolled her eyes as Lily laughed.

At James' baffled look, Lily filled him in. "Lacey was Logan's most recent boyfriend," she explained.

"We're pretty sure they went out because they liked to confuse people. There's nothing like a couple made up of a boy named a girl's name and girl named a boy's name," Harry teased.

Logan through a Taboo card at him.

"He wasn't a big talker," Lily explained. "A lot of monosyllables. You know, 'yep,' and 'nope,' and-"

"Sumbitch," Harry imitated.

"Umm . . . that's two syllables there brother mine, doesn't really fit," Logan responded.

"Yes," Harry said. "Let's take a moment to think about that. You dated a guy who thought 'son of a bitch' only had two syllables."

"Elitist."

"This from the girl who spends all her time in the library, refusing to talk to any other students," Harry responded.

"Right, so, our turn," James spoke up, obviously trying to change the subject. Logan shot him a look that could have been annoyed or grateful. Even she wasn't sure which it was.

The moment Logan turned over the timer, he picked up his first card.

"We always start the new term on . . ."

"September firs-" Lily tried.

He tossed the card down and pulled up a new one.

"At Hogwarts I was an –"

"Asshole?" Lily offered apologetically, earning a laugh from both of her kids.

James motioned for her to keep going.

"Jackass?" she tried again, in an equally uncomfortable tone.

James scrubbed a hand through his hair. "This might not have been then best plan," he mumbled. "If someone makes really, really bad decisions, you would call them an . . ."

"Idiot?"

"Thank you," he said, tossing the card down right as the time ran out.

"Bet you never thought you'd thank someone for calling you names," Logan joked.

James laughed. "No, I guess not." He glanced over at Lily. "See, I told you we don't always know what's best for us."

* * *

_So, I know there was probably a lot of random details and crap you guys didn't really care about in this chapter, but I thought I should give a bit of a look at how it might be for someone coming into a group that's already formed. They're meant to be a pretty tight family, so I gotta figure James would spend a lot of time feeling like he was on the outside of an inside joke. Anyway, I hope I put in enough humor to make it enjoyable. _


	6. Teaser

Weeks went by. Spring blossomed and the weather warmed. Harry and Logan spent more time with James. Harry observed in his mum's fourth year Gryffindor class every time. He kept his eyes peeled for Pettigrew, but had yet to find success in catching him. The mystery would drive him mad if he didn't figure it out.

To that end, Harry found himself in the Hogwart's library. He knew Logan came in regularly, but there'd never been any accounting for his sister. Harry liked books and all. He just thought there were more entertaining ways to pass his time than piling on a load of extra work.

Still, he walked into the library with determination in his step. In his experience, the first place to go was always the librarian. He was surprised to find that Madam Pince, the dragon woman rumored to run the place, was locked in her office. Instead he found Hermione Granger sitting behind the librarian's desk, doing her homework

"Hey," Harry said, grinning. "I see you've recovered from Weasley's engorgement charm."

Hermione huffed out of breath. "Honestly. That boy is a danger to himself and everyone around him."

"I hate to break it to you Hermione," Harry teased, "But from what I've seen, everyone around _you_ is a danger to _yourself_. You're like a magnet for misfired charms."

"I thought I'd be safe from Ronald Weasley at least," Hermione huffed. "It usually takes him _days_ to master any knew spells."

Harry laughed. "Whole days? Really?" Harry joked. "And when you always get it within three tries. It must be such a trial, being brilliant."

"Har har." She glared at him and turned back to her homework. When he didn't move, she glanced up again. "Did you need something?"

"Matter of fact," Harry said. "I was hoping you could direct me toward the invisibility section."

"The invisibility section?" she repeated, sounding scandalized. "I do hope you aren't intending to study it for some _nefarious_ purpose."

Harry grinned. "Like spying on girls in the quidditch changing rooms?" he suggested, wiggling his eyebrows. Before she could flay him, he raised both hands in surrender. "Purely academic," he assured her. "I promise. I'll even go you one step further and swear I won't pass on any secret of invisibility to the Wealey's."

She seemed to consider him for a while. Harry thought she would be guaranteed a prefect badge next year. She already seemed to have taken on the responsibility of one.

She gave him a skeptical look. "I just don't see what possible _good_ reason you'd have for looking into invisibility."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "So you've never studied it at all?" he asked. When she hesitated, he feigned shock. "Hermione Granger! Am I to understand you've been practicing invisibility? And probably to sneak around in the boys dorms and watch them undress."

"I would never –"

Harry shook his head in mock seriousness. "I thought you were better than that, Hermione. And here you turn out to be nothing but a peeping tom, sneaking about the castle and spying on people when they think they're alone –"

"I would never do that! I only read about it to see what I might come up against. I take Defense Against the Dark Arts seriously, you know," she said in a dignified voice.

Harry smiled, knowing he had her. "So what you're saying," he said, leaning in conspiratorially, "is that there are plenty of _good_ reasons to look into invisibility?"

She sighed. "I suppose so."

"Good then," Harry nodded, "In that case, I'm sure you won't mind directing me to the section."

She glared at him, but climbed down out of her chair and led him to the correct part of the library.

She turned to leave, but stopped at the last minute and swiveled around to face him. "Will you at least tell me what _your _good reason is?" she asked.

Harry considered her for a minute. "You're muggleborn, right?" he asked.

She gave him a look that clearly said she didn't like the implication of the question.

"Nah," Harry said. "I don't mean it like that. I'm just thinking that if you're muggleborn, you've probably come across the concept of brain teasers."

She looked baffled. "You mean like 'there's a cabin on the side of a mountain, all the people in it are dead. How did they die?' That sort of brain teaser?"

Harry nodded. "Exactly," he said. "I came across one recently that I couldn't solve. It had to do with a person who was there, but couldn't be seen. I thought this might be a good place to look for an answer," he explained.

She cocked her head. "If you tell me the whole thing, I might be able to help you," she offered.

Harry smiled at her. "If anyone could, I'm sure it would be you. But it's no fun if someone helps. Then the victory wouldn't be mine, would it?" he improvised. If anyone would run straight for a teacher, it would be her.

She seemed to think about it. Obviously deciding she would feel the same way, she nodded, excused herself, and went back up to the desk.

Harry wondered idly if she received pay or some sort of school credit for working in the library. He thought not. She probably just volunteered because she liked to be around books. At least she was easy to deal with.

The best lies, Harry knew, were the ones peppered with truth. Especially if you tailored the false bits to suit the person you were telling them to. No way in hell would Lee Jordan have fallen for a brain teaser Harry wanted to solve himself so he could have the satisfaction of doing it on his own.

Shaking his head, Harry settled into his research.


	7. Nice

"Hey," Logan said, sliding into a seat across from Harry. Most of the Gryffindors gave her strange looks. Apparently they weren't overly excited to have a Ravenclaw at their table. Logan rolled her eyes. "So," she said, stealing a bit of bacon of his plate, "What's your deal?"

Harry gave her a fake baffled look. Like she couldn't tell when he was lying. "What do you mean? Deal?"

She didn't even bother to respond, just held his gaze.

After a while – and she gave him points for holding out as long as he did – he sighed. "It's not a big deal. I'm just," he shrugged, "I dunno, trying to figure some stuff out."

She cocked her head, assessing him. "True but not true, right? You want me to think you're soul searching, when that's not even close."

He glowered at her. "Can you just leave it alone? Please. I'll tell you if there's something to tell."

She blinked. That meant he thought there would eventually be something to tell. "Ok," she said, shrugging. "Keep your secrets."

He sighed. "Come on, Lo. It's not like that."

She shook her head. "No worries. I'm going to assume you've discovered you have a weird fetish for old women or something. Maybe you're observing in Mum's class in an effort to divert yourself away from stalking McGonagall." She rose from her seat.

"Nice, Lo. Real nice," Harry said, resting his forehead on his hand.

"Whoever said I was nice?" she asked, stealing a last piece of bacon. "And anyway, if you aren't going to tell people what's going on with you, you can't really blame them for assuming the worst," she said, messing up his hair. "Though, I'm not sure that's the absolute _worst_," she decided as she started walking away. "I'm sure I can come up with something more disturbing."

* * *

Harry watched his sister make her way out of the Great Hall. He felt like crap. It wasn't that he was keeping something from her. If it was none of her business and he didn't want to tell her, she wouldn't hold it against him. She might give him shit for a while, but she wouldn't actually be pissed about it.

No, the problem was it _was_ her business. He had reason to believe the man responsible for handing her parents to Voldemort was in the castle, and he refused to tell her. It was one thing to avoid mentioning it, and another altogether to refuse point blank to answer.

He sighed. She was definitely going to be pissed when she found out – if she found it. But he didn't want to do that to her unless he was sure, and it was taking much longer than he had expected to figure it out.

He had been spending inordinate amounts of time in the library researching invisibility, but had gotten nowhere. It was really starting to drive him insane.

Harry scrubbed a hand through his hair. For now, he'd go make nice with Logan. Tonight he'd spend another fruitless evening in the library.

* * *

It took him a while, but he found Logan out on the grounds.

"Hey there," he said.

She looked up from her book. She was sitting on the ground under the large oak tree. "Hi," she said, returning to her reading immediately.

"So, you know what I was thinking?" he began.

"Nope. That sort of requires you to tell me," she responded.

Ouch, he thought. "I was thinking that if we were back home, we'd be playing baseball by now. Well, you'd be playing softball, but . . . you get the idea."

She glanced up at him, but didn't seem to have anything to say. She probably thought he was being an ass, pouring salt in an open wound.

"Listen, I know you don't like it here. That you miss everything back home. So, I was thinking we could bring a little of home here," he suggested.

She gave him a questioning look. "Yeah?" she asked. "And how would we do that?"

"Well," he said. "See, I think if I make this pencil a big stick," he said, transfiguring a pencil into a large, bat-like stick. "And this piece of paper a ball," he added, transfiguring a rolled up piece of paper into a whiffle ball. "We could have us a pretty sweet game of stick ball out here on the grounds."

He knew he had her the moment she looked up. "It'd be just like back home," he cajoled. "Ghostrunners and everything."

She eyed him for a moment. "Doesn't mean I don't still think you're being a secretive ass," she said, pushing herself up off the ground.

"Fair enough," he decided. "You home or away?" he asked.

She gave him a look.

"Away it is," he said. "Though if you weren't so stuck on the symbolism, you'd take the home advantage."

She shrugged. "Since when do I need it?"

Harry laughed and tossed her the bat.

"Not bad," she said as she caught it and looked over his work. "You might have a future in this."

"What," he asked, "turning crumpled old pencils into works of art?"

She snorted and rolled her eyes simultaneously. Harry wasn't even sure how it was possible. He watched as she pointed her wand where each base would be and caused the grass to turn white.

"Maybe we could open a gallery together," he joked.

She shook her head. "Just pitch the damn ball."

Harry laughed. He backed up to where the pitcher's mound would be. It wasn't quite baseball, but stickball had a special place in his heart. And it was really the only version of the sport you could play with just two people.

* * *

_If you're wondering about the brain teaser from the last chapter, the answer is that it was the cabin of a plane that crashed into the side of the mountain. All the people died on impact. _


	8. For the Grandkids

Fred and George trudged through the forest, arguing in hushed tones.

"I'm only saying we need some sort of advertising," George was saying.

"Excellent idea, George," Fred responded. "Do you think a full page ad in the Daily Prophet? 'Nudie Mags for the Underage Lot – Free Delivery to Hogwarts.' Or we could go the poster route. You know, massive adverts all over the walls. But, emphasizing discretion, of course."

George grinned. "Bet we'd generate a good lot of interest with _either_ of those ideas."

"We don't have to generate interest. They're magazines with pictures of naked women. We tell two people we've got some for sale and every male in the school will know within twenty-four hours."Fred thought about it. "Maybe some of the females, too," he said, a slightly far off look in his eyes.

"You're picturing Harry's sister with another bird, aren't you?" George asked, shaking his head.

"Nah, I was remembering a pair of girls I saw in London once," he said. He grinned at George. "You were sick. What a day to miss out on," Fred added sympathetically.

George sighed. "Like to kick a man when he's down, do you?" he grumbled.

Fred started to respond, but stopped short, looking around. "Did you hear that?" he asked.

George also began to surveying the area. After a moment, George reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of parchment. He showed it to Fred. They both started unerringly in Logan's direction.

"Oi!" George said. "Eavesdropping on your betters, eh?"

Fred gave him an elbow in the side and an accompanying glare.

Logan shot them both a bored look. "Go on then," she said. "Castle's that way," she added, pointing.

"After six years here, I think we had that sorted," George responded in irritation.

"Do you have to be such an arse?" Fred whispered, trying to smile winningly at Logan at the same time.

"She was bloody listening in on our conversation," George shot back.

Logan rolled her eyes. "Why would I care if you two want to sell Playboys? I'm American. I appreciate the entrepreneurial spirit." She thought it over for a moment. "Though, for the record, I have to agree with Fred," she added. "Sex and advertising make sense as a combination when you're trying to use sex to sell something else. I don't think anyone has ever needed to advertise in order to sell sex itself. I mean," she shrugged, "demand's always pretty high, right?"

"Don't know where you got the idea we were selling playboys," George tried to feign innocence.

Logan laughed. "You can't be pissed at me for eavesdropping and then deny what I obviously overheard in the same two minutes. You've got to at least be consistent."

"What are you doing out here anyway? "George asked, taking the offensive.

Logan shrugged. "I like the thestrals."

"Thestrals?" the pair asked at the same time.

"Mmmhhmmm . . ." Logan said. "Hagrid's heard is amazingly well trained."

"What's a thestral?" Fred asked, taking a step toward Logan.

She shrugged again. "It's a thestral."

"Helpful," George said. "I see why you like her, mate."

"What's a dog?" Logan asked.

"What sort of a question is that?" George returned. "Everyone knows what a dog is."

Logan shifted, rising and brushing her hand down the thestral nearest her. "And if they didn't, how would you explain it?" When neither of them said anything, she sighed. "A thestral is a bit like a winged horse, I guess. Except most people can't see them."

"Right," said Fred.

"No," George turned to look at his brother. "Not right. That's the biggest load of bollucks I've ever heard. We've come up with some far-fetched excuses in our days, but –" He broke off when Logan mounted what appeared to be thin air.

"Believe me now?" she asked.

George stared at her open-mouthed.

"Are you sure that's entirely safe?" Fred asked.

Logan laughed. "By whose definition? The ministry claims they're dangerous, but everything is if you don't know what you're doing." She grinned at him. "Wanna go for a ride?" she asked.

George shook his head. "We aren't bloody mad," he said.

"Sure we are," Fred disagreed. "I'll go," he said, stepping forward.

"Mate," George whispered. "I think you really need to consider your priorities here. You're taking your life in your hands over a shot at a girl who's never expressed the least interest in you."

"He makes a far point," Logan said, watching them.

Fred shrugged. "How many blokes can say they've ridden an invisible horse?" he asked philosophically.

"An invisible winged horse," Logan corrected.

"Even better."

George stared at them both. "And how are you going to ride something you can't see?" he asked.

Fred turned to Logan. "That _is_ a problem," he said.

She laughed and slid off her thestral. "Here," she said, taking his hand and pulling him over to another thestral. She guided his hand over the animal, from the top of its head all the way down its back. "Hold here," she said, putting his left hand on the beast's mane. "And sit here," she said, indicating its back.

Fred looked a little less sure of himself, but did as she had said. He found himself seated astride an animal he could not see.

"This," he said after a moment, "is very strange."

Logan pulled herself up onto her own mount. "You don't have to ride him, you know. It doesn't actually increase the odds of me agreeing to go out with you."

"Yeah," Fred said. "Though if there is something that would, you'll give me a heads up, yeah?" He looked back down at the invisible horse. "The thing is, I haven't really ridden him yet. And I can't exactly tell my grandkids about the time I rode a thestral if I haven't done, now can I?"

"Fair enough," Logan said. "Let's go just above the tree line then," she said. The moment she spoke, both thestrals took off. "It's an excellent view."

They flew up above the forest canopy. Fred looked about as uncomfortable as any human being possibly could. "What would ever make you want to do this more than once?" he asked.

She glanced over at him. "I miss riding my horses," she said. "I practically learned to ride before I learned to walk. But they're all back home. This is as close as I get," she said, patting her thestral, which to Fred looked like nothing but empty air. Logan couldn't help but laugh at the expression on his face.

"It isn't nice to laugh at someone going through a trauma," Fred grumbled.

"You can add it to the story for the grandkids," Logan responded. "_And then this evil bitch cackled at me while I was praying my brother would conjure up a giant mattress to cushion my fall_ . . ."

Fred jerk around, nearly falling off the thestral. "We aren't planning to fall, are we?"

"No," Logan soothed. "Look," she said. "You can see Hogsmeade."

Fred stared in the direction she indicated. "I don't think you're a bitch, you know," he said, chancing a look at her. He immediately turned back to face front, obviously fearing that the thestral would take any shift as a sign he wanted it to move in the direction.

"Like to swim against the current, do you?" she asked, smiling. "Come on," she said, "we'll go back down." Again, the moment she spoke the words, the animals obeyed them.

"How do they know to do that?" Fred asked.

Logan patted her mount. "They're smart. And they have an amazing sense of direction. They can literally take you anywhere you want to go," she explained.

"How come you can see it?" Fred asked.

"You can only see it if you've seen death," she answered after a pause. "My grandpa died when I was younger. Heart attack. Harry and I were both there."

"I'm sor –" Fred began, but stopped short at the bumpy landing.

Logan slid off her thestral, walking over to help him down. "Now you can officially tell anyone you want that you rode a thestral. George can even verify it," she added.

George watched them with an annoyed expression.

"Don't mind him," Fred said. "He's only beginning to realize that he's going to look the nancy next to me," he said.

"Right, well, you boys have a lovely afternoon," Logan said, turning around and climbing back up onto her thestral. After a moment, she whispered directions in his ear and rose up into the air.


	9. Brilliant

Harry sat in the library, flipping though yet another book on invisibility with no success. He didn't even have the map anymore. He had seriously begun to question whether he even saw Pettigrew's name in the first place.

Hermione walked over and flopped into the seat across from him. "Alright, now you're starting to drive me mad. It would have been one thing if you'd solved you're little riddle in good time. But you haven't, and I'd really like to know what it is before I end up pulling all of my hair out," she said, all in one breath.

Harry started to brush her off, and then stopped, considering. "Alright," he said. "How can something be invisible, but not be identifiable by any other senses either?" he asked.

"_That's_ your brain teaser?" She asked, sounding horribly disappointed.

"Sort of," he said. "It's seen and unseen, felt and unfelt, and on like that," he dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "But I think it comes down to how it can be invisible but not be felt or heard or smelt or touched."

Hermione huffed out a breath. "Well I can't know how to answer it without actually hearing the whole thing, can I? I mean, something could be hiding in plain sight and meet your criteria. Is this a magic brain teaser? Like is transfiguration an option? Or if we were talking about a person, it could be an animagus, but then it wouldn't really be invisible. There's also-"

Harry stared at her.

"What? You're going to have to tell me the whole thing," she said. "If I don't know the rules, there's no possible way for me to succeed."

Harry laughed. "You're brilliant," he said, kissing her on the forehead and making for the exit in all due haste.

* * *

It took him no time at all to get to the common room. He saw Fred and George immediately.

"Oi! Harry!" Fred called. "You'll never believe what I just-"

"I'm sorry, I'm sure it's fascinating, but I need to find your brother," Harry broke in.

"Right here," George said, waving his hand.

"Nah, Ron. Where is he?"

"Dunno," the twins responded in chorus.

"Maybe up in his dormitory," Fred suggested.

George rolled his eyes. "Probably having a wank over our missing magazine," he complained.

"Right. Fantastic," Harry said, turning toward the stairs.

The twins had identical startled looked on their faces as Harry bolted for the stairs, which he took two at a time.

* * *

Harry threw open the door to the fourth year's dormitory, and found Ron, Dean, and Seamus all staring down in awe at something on the bed.

"Bloody hell. What do you mean bursting in here like that?" Ron shouted, shoving something under his pillow.

"I need to see your rat," Harry said. Immediately he heard a squeak and saw something brown streak across the room. Quickly, he petrified it and went over to pick it up.

"Hey, what are you doing with Scabbers?" Ron hollered.

"Sorry, mate," Harry said, conjuring a small cage. "I promise, if my theory doesn't pan out, I'll have him back to you in a jiff." Then Harry stared at the rat for a moment. "Right. I'm just going to find someone to help me figure out how to test my theory," he said, turning toward the door.

"You can't just steal a man's rat," Ron bellowed, chasing after him and trying to curse him. Harry deflected the spells easily, making his way quickly down the stairs.

He was ecstatic to see Hermione in the common room. She was speaking to the Weasley twins, who seemed to be refusing to tell her whatever it was she wanted to know.

"Oh, Harry," she said. "I just came to check on you, since you seemed a bit _off _in the library," she said. "But your friends here refused to tell me where to find you."

"Yeah, lovely, fantastic," Harry said. "Listen, do you happen to know if there's a spell to make an animagus take back his human form."

Hermione blinked. Her eyes shifted to the rat in the cage, then to something behind Harry's head. Harry petrified Ron without looking back, pleased when he heard a satisfactory thump.

"Was that Ron?" Fred asked.

George craned his neck to see around Harry. "Yup, that was Ron."

"He do something to you mate?" Fred asked.

"Nah," Harry responded. "He just wants his rat back." He turned back to Harry.

"Why do you think the rat is an animagus?" she asked.

"Scabbers?" George exclaimed.

Fred laughed outloud. "You're mad, Harry. Scabbers has been in the family for years."

"Right about sixteen, I'll bet," Harry said. "Listen," he continued, before they could respond. "Either I'm wrong, and the spell will do no harm, or I'm right. And if I'm right," he shrugged, "did you really want a wizard pretending to be a rat as a family pet?"

The twins looked at each other.

"He makes a –" George began.

"Fair point –" Fred finished. He gestured for Harry to continue.

"Well, yes," Hermione said, as the rat began squeaking and panicking in the cage. "There is a spell. But I've obviously never attempted it before."

"Well, he's not going anywhere," Harry assured her. "Take your time."

Hermione took a deep breath, glancing around at the assembled onlookers. "Right," she said. After a moment, she waved her wand and spoke the incantation.

"That answers it then," George said.

Fred nodded, patting Harry on the shoulder. "Sorry mate, just a rat."

Hermione shook her head. "No," she said. "I don't think I had it quite right." She tried again, and there was a large blue and white flash.

Where the rat had stood in a thin metal cage, there now couched a little balding man with beady eyes.

"Peter Pettigrew," Harry said, raising his wand.

The man crawled over to Fred and George, who looked immensely disturbed. "Please, masters," he said. "I've been a good rat, a good pet for your family. Please don't let him hurt me."

The pair pushed him away and backed up. "Bloody hell," they said in unison.

"Hermione," Harry said. "Could you do me a favor? Would you go get my mother?" He glanced around. "And you. Finnegan, right? Could you go get Dumbledore for me?"

When Pettigrew screwed up his face and transformed back into a rat, Harry petrified him again. "On second thought, Hermione, I'd appreciate it if you stayed." He glanced over at Fred and George.

"Got it," George said. "You're mum, right?"

Harry nodded, conjuring another cage and putting the rat back in it.

* * *

His mum and Dumbledore arrived at almost exactly the same time. Harry guessed both Finnegan and George must have sprinted the whole way.

"Harry?" his mum asked, looking baffled. "George said something about a rat that was a man?"

Harry nodded, casting a sideways glance at Dumbledore, who was circling the rat's cage.

"It's Peter Pettigrew," Harry said.

His mum stared at him. "Harry . . ." she said, clearly disbelieving.

"You believe he's an animagus," Dumbledore stated, touching his beard.

"I know it," Harry said. "Hermione did the spell to force him to take his human form. Only, he changed back to try to escape."

Dumbledore nodded. "It would explain a great deal," he muttered. He looked over at Harry. "And what would you like to do with him?" he asked.

Harry shrugged. "Turn him over to the courts, I guess," he said. "Though he needs to be locked up someplace even rats can't escape."

Dumbledore nodded. "Do you mind?" he asked, raising his wand. Harry shook his head, and Dumbledore immediately repeated Hermione's motion. Another blue and white flash filled the room, and there crouched Pettigrew once more.

"Hello, Peter," Dumbledore said in a cold voice.

Again Pettigrew groveled, hanging on to the ends of Dumbledore's robes. "Professor, thank Merlin you've come to save me. They're trying to make me out to be a . . . a criminal!" he whined.

"More of a spy and a Death Eater," Harry corrected.

"See, professor. Do you see?" Pettigrew squeaked. "She's a Slytherin," he said, pointing to Lily. When Harry took a step forward, Pettigrew cowered. "She probably works for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," he whimpered. "She's trying to set me up."

Harry wasn't sure what he would have done if his mum wasn't actively restraining him.

"I think you'll find that a hard story to sell," Dumbledore responded calmly. "But for now, we'll worry about contacting the minister and seeing that you're brought to justice," he said. He turned back to Harry. "Do you mind if I take him?" he asked politely.

Harry shook his head.

Dumbledore flicked his wand and silver bands twisted around Pettigrew. "They'll only tighten if you change forms," Dumbledore explained quietly. "You'll simply be a chained rat instead of a chained man."

Harry watched as they left the room. Once they were gone, he turned to his mum. She spoke before he had the chance.

"Come on," she said. "I think you've missed lunch."

Harry followed her toward the portrait hole. At the last moment, he remembered Ron and muttered the counter course. He saw the boy sit up with a shocked expression before following his mum out the door.

"How upset do you think Lo's gonna be?" Harry asked quietly.

He didn't take any encouragement from his mother's look.


	10. Straight

"So, let me get this straight," Logan said, staring at Harry from the opposite side of their mother's table. "You thought the man who gave my parents to Voldemort – gave _me – _to Voldemort, was in the castle, but you didn't tell me."

"I didn't want to get your hopes up, or bring it all up and cause you any pain if I wasn't sure it was true," Harry tried to explain.

Logan didn't say anything.

"I think he was trying to protect you, love," Lily said, stroking a hand through Logan's hair.

Logan pulled away, rising from the table. "Protect me? By not even telling me there was a possible threat?" she asked, eyes shining. "Did it not even occur to you I might have wanted to know? To be a part of stopping him?" She shook her head, turning toward the door.

"Logan," Harry, said, standing up and taking a step toward her. "I meant to bring you in on it before the end, but when Hermione said the thing about him being an animagus, I –"

"When _Hermione_?" She said. "You mean you did ask other people to help you, but-"

"No, it wasn't like that. I didn't explain it to her or anything. I just asked a vague question in the library, and she-"

Logan shook her head. "I'm not . . . I really don't want to hear this," she said. "Just . . . just leave me alone," she said, voice breaking as she opened the door and walked out.

Harry stood staring at where she had just been. "I like it better when she shouts," he said, turning back to face his mum. "I was trying _not_ to hurt her," he said. "How come I ended up making her cry?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Sometimes that happens," Lily said, pulling him into a hug. "If it matters at all, you also made me _very_ angry."

Harry pulled back, looking down at her. "The part where I should have talked to you before I did something potentially stupid and dangerous."

She nodded. "He was a Death Eater, Harry," she said. She shook her head, sighing. "Sometimes I wonder if by trying to make sure you two are prepared, I've made you overconfident."

Harry shook his head. "No, that's not it at all."

"Did you even stop to think about whether he might hurt you? You took on a Death Eater without even having a plan as to how to prove he was who you thought he was."

Harry shoved his hands in his pockets. "I guess I lost track of the reality of the situation. I spent so much time trying to figure out how he could be there without me finding him, I didn't stop to think what would happen once I found my answer."

Lily tilted her head, eyeing him curiously. "How did you figure out he was there?" she asked

Harry opened and closed his mouth. "I swore I wouldn't tell," he said. "I promise, this isn't me being difficult. It's just that I gave my word, and I think that should mean something."

"Harry."

"It's nothing dangerous. And it isn't related in any way to you or Logan. It just isn't my secret to tell," he pleaded.

After a moment, she sighed. "The next time you seek out a Death Eater without so much as mentioning it to me," she said, shaking her finger at him, "I swear I'll lock you in a dungeon until you're eighty. You will live a long and healthy life," she added in a threatening voice, "even if I have to force you to."

Harry nodded. "That's the plan," he said, kissing her on the cheek and making a quick exit. Now he just needed to figure out how to smooth things over with Logan.

* * *

_I thought about changing this up to make Logan more likable, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I've gotta figure that if I were in Harry's place, I would have done the same thing. But if I were in Logan's, I would feel the way she does. Gotta write it like I see it. Sorry Logan Haters. _


	11. Trust

Logan sat under the oak tree by the lake, reading a book. She didn't bother to look up when she heard him approach.

"Hey," Fred mumbled, sitting down next to her. At least, she assumed it was Fred, since she couldn't see George seeking her out for a chat.

"I'm really not in the mood," she said quietly, not looking up from her book.

She saw him nod out of the corner of her eye. "I get that," he said. "Only, I don't really. Everyone knows you've been pissed at your brother since he caught that Death Eater, but no one knows why," he said.

She stared blindly at the page she was on. "Doesn't matter," she said, after a long moment.

"Alright," he said, in a tone that clearly said he didn't think it was. "In that case, I have something to show you."

"Listen, I'm really not –" she began, but he didn't seem interested in hearing her response. He grabbed her arm and dragged her to her feet, pulling her toward the castle.

"Fred," she said in a tone most people did not test. "I am really not interested in being manhandled right now."

He grinned at her. "Shame, that," he said. "But I suppose it works out that I wasn't planning to manhandle you."

"Good, then I'm sure you'll let go of my wrist so that I can get back to my book," she said.

"You haven't been reading the book. I was watching you for twenty minutes. You didn't turn the page once," he said. Before she could respond, he continued. "Look, I'm trying to show you something I think you'll like. Can you just . . . Can you just not assume you know better than everyone else for one minute and trust me?"

Logan closed her mouth. "Fine," she said in a quiet voice. "But I'd still like you to let go of me."

Fred released her wrist immediately. He shoved his hands in his pockets, beginning to look awkward. "I didn't mean . . ." he started to say.

"It's fine," she said, cutting him off. "Just leave it."

"Fine job this," Fred muttered. "Try to cheer a girl up and end up shouting at her instead. Brilliant."

Logan glanced over at him when he led her into the passageway behind the Gregory the Smarmy statue.

"Why did we go back into the castle to leave?" she asked, trying to keep her voice neutral.

"Easiest way to get out of the castle without getting caught," he said. "Mind, there are a few other options, but only fools try to get straight from the grounds to the village." He paused, seeming to think it over. "If I was willing to fly on one of your thestrals again, that might be a valid option." He smiled. "But I'm really, really not."

Logan didn't respond. She didn't want him to make her laugh.

When they got out of the passage, Fred led her off away from Hogsmeade. She gave him a baffled look.

"_Trust_ me," he said.

She sighed. "It's very hard to trust people who ask you to do so in that urgent tone of voice," she pointed out.

"This way," he said, leading her across a large field and completely ignoring her statement.

Logan followed without comment. She liked the landscape here, but she missed having mountains on the horizon. She just missed being at home. Everything was simpler there.

She felt her curiosity pique as they approached a shabby old barn.

"Come on," Fred whispered, holding out a hand.

She took it and let him draw her into the barn. He grinned triumphantly.

"You said you missed riding horses," he said, indicating the animals with a flourish.

Logan couldn't help herself. She doubled over laughing. "That's a Clydesdale," she said.

Fred looked deflated. "I take it that's a bad thing."

"No," Logan shook her head, still laughing. "It's a fine thing. It just means they're draft horses." When he looked blank, she explained. "They're for pulling carts and carriages." She shrugged. "Some people ride them, but I'll wager this one's never had a rider on his back."

"Oh," Fred said, looking thoroughly defeated. "I guess maybe you shouldn't have trusted me after all."

She shook her head. "No," she said, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek. "It was very sweet of you to bring me here," she murmured.

She smiled at the slightly dopey grin on his face as she walked over to greet the horse. She spoke quietly to the old fellow, petting him and befriending him.

After a few minutes, she heard a noise outside. "We should probably go," she said, turning to Fred.

He nodded. "I don't think they know we're in here, but better safe than sorry," he agreed. He held out his hand again. They both knew there was no reason for him to hold it. She knew the way as well as he did this time.

Right as he started to drop his hand, Logan reached out and took it. She tried not to laugh too much at the inordinately pleased look on his face.


	12. Babies

Harry looked up from his dinner when he saw James walk into the Great Hall. Normally he only came on weekends. Well, Harry had his suspicions that that may not have been exactly the case, but James certainly only appeared publicly on the weekends.

Harry watched as he went up and spoke with the teachers at the head table. He saw his mother close her eyes, and then turn to look for Logan. Harry knew, without anyone having to say it, that Pettigrew had escaped.

He looked over at his sister, knowing she would have come to the same conclusion. His whole plan had been not to hurt her, not to get her hopes up for no reason. And instead somehow he'd managed to betray her trust _and _let Pettigrew go free. He wondered if this was going to make it even harder to convince her to forgive him.

* * *

"How can he have gotten away?" Lily hissed.

James stood facing her in their quarters. Her quarters. He didn't live there, even if he did spend most nights in her bed.

James looked furious. "They gave him to the dementors, apparently thinking there was no way he could have changed around them. If they'd bothered to ask anyone, I could have told them in a second the dementors wouldn't have stopped him being able to transform." He shoved both hands through his hair, looking exhausted. "He was gone within twenty-four hours."

"James," Lily said slowly. "Why would you have been able to tell them how a dementor affects an animagus?"

James looked trapped. "Umm . . ."

"This is one of those moments where you should think very, very carefully about whether it's a good idea to lie to me," she warned.

He looked at the ground for a moment. "I . . . I, um, might be one," he admitted.

She nodded. "Sirius and Remus too?"she asked.

"Lily, it's not really my place –"

"No, of course not. It's much more important to guard your friends' secrets than a stranger's safety," she snapped.

"How am I doing that?" he asked.

She stared at him. "Are you really going to stand there and tell me you _didn't_ know Peter Pettigrew was an unregistered animagus?"

James' mouth worked, but no sound came out.

"That's what I thought. So you chose your secrets over everyone else's safety," she growled.

James shook his head. "There was absolutely no intelligence that Peter was responsible for any acts of violence," he said. "He was a spy. A rat, listening at doorways. Once Voldemort lost his power, Peter was no longer a threat."

"No longer a threat?" Lily shouted. "You think spies can't hurt people? You think they can't get people killed? He was living in Harry's House? And what about the poor wizarding family that took him in? What of them when Voldemort comes back?"

James dragged his fingers through his hair. "It never crossed my mind he'd become a pet."

"You thought he would just crawl into some sewer and die?" Lily hollered. "Of course he found a wizarding family to take him in? How better could he position himself for a return to his master's service whenever he comes back to power?"

"Could you stop acting like it's a given that he'll come back?" James shouted.

"Oh, bloody hell. See this, this is why –" she cut herself off before she could say something she'd regret.

"What? This is why what? Talking of keeping secrets," he snapped.

"Forgive me if I find it hard to trust you when you consider loyalty to murderous old friends more important than bringing monsters to justice," she yelled.

"I wasn't being loyal to him," he hollered back. "What good would it have done to tell anyone he was an animagus?"

"At a _minimum_ it could have led to his capture and given Logan some comfort," she snarled.

James blinked. "What does this have to do with Logan?" he asked. At Lily's blank look, he shook his head. "No, don't do that. Don't clam up. What does this have to do with Logan? Logan. Logan Harbour?" He stared at her, processing. "I didn't even connect it," he said, dropping into a chair. "That makes perfect sense. Dumbledore wouldn't tell anyone where he took her, but that would have been right about the time your Jack needed help raising his orphaned granddaughter."

"James," Lily said. She waited to speak until he looked at her. "You can't tell anyone," she said. "Not anyone."

"You think she's still in danger?" he asked. "She's the one the prophecy was about, isn't she? Merlin," he mumbled to himself.

"I just . . . They tried to kill her once. I see no reason to believe they wouldn't try to kill her again," Lily said. "Everyone thinks they're twins. As long as they assume that, there's no reason for them to connect her to a little girl who was supposed to have died sixteen years ago."

James nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I won't tell anyone."

"Not anyone, James. Not Black, not Lupin. Not anyone."

"Ok," he said.

"I know they're your friends, and you trust them. But I don't trust anyone with my children, James."

"I know," he said, resting his face on his hands. "Not even me."

"They're my babies," she said, voice breaking.

He nodded, pulling her into a hug. "I know," he said, stroking her hair and letting her cry. "I know." He didn't stop to think why she said "they," instead of "she."


	13. Bloody Hell

Harry stood in the changing room, trying to psych himself up for the quidditch game. It was the final match of the season. Gryffindor against Ravenclaw. Both teams were undefeated.

And Logan still hadn't forgiven him.

He really didn't want to play against her right now. If he won, he'd feel even worse. But if he lost, she'd assume he let her win to try to make nice. And then she'd be even more upset with him.

He thought she might have gotten over it by now if Pettigrew hadn't escaped. Things wouldn't have gone any different if she had helped him apprehend the Death Eater, but his whole reason for keeping it from her dissolved when the outcome he'd been trying to avoid – bringing up all that Pettigrew had helped take from her without actually bringing him to justice – had happened anyway.

He sighed. There was nothing to it. He was going to have to go out and play, and play his best, and hope that at some point she decided to try to see things from his point of view.

* * *

Logan strode out onto the field. A part of her wanted to simply quit. Jesus, a part of her wanted to just go home. But another part wanted to demolish him. Demolish all the Gryffindors. She was furious with them for getting to be a part of catching Pettigrew. And she was furious with the aurors, and the ministry, and the dementors for letting him get away.

For now, all she could do was focus on the game.

* * *

"And we do have quite a match today," Lee Jordan was commentating. "The undefeated Gryffindor team against an equally undefeated Ravenclaw team. No one is quite sure if these two teams are spectacular or if the other two are just plain crap."

"Jordan," McGonagall warned.

"Only saying, Professor. And that's the starting whistle. Gryffindor in possession. That's Katie Bell with the quaffle now. She passes to Alicia Spinnet, and SPINNET SCORES! Ten points to Gryffindor."

"But the real battle we're expecting today is the battle of the seekers. It's Evans against Evans. The siblings possess startlingly different qualities in general. Harry Evans is likable and friendly, while Logan Evans seems to have something approaching a ten foot personal bubble. On the other hand, the female Evans is actually fit, while her brother is more of the gangly, specky sort –"

"If you can't simple call the game, Jordan –"

"Only adding a bit of color, Professor. And that's Davies with the quaffle. Can McClaggen stop it? NO! Damn. Ten all."

"As I said, it's really a seeker battle we expect here today. Hogwarts hasn't seen two such impressive seekers in decades. Some have begun to speculate that the pair have been given some sort of illegal potion to boost their reflexes and speed."

"We do _not_ broadcast rumors, Jordan," McGonagall snarled.

"Right you are, Professor. Still, it's an interesting topic. The pair certainly display an unusual amount of talent. Then again, the Weasley twins are prime beaters, and no one suggests they're taking potions to improve their chances. And that's Johnson with the quaffle, and Gryffindor scores again. 20-10, Gryffindor."

"And what's that? It looks like Evans, Harry Evans that is, has spotted the snitch. His sister is hot on his trail. She seems to be gaining on him. They're both diving. I don't see how they can stop in time. They must take sibling rivalry to another level. Harry looks like he's trying to slow, but his sister is still barreling toward the ground. They both reach for the snitch and-"

"Bloody hell. Where'd they go?"


	14. Cruel

Harry smashed into the ground. He knew he had touched the snitch, but he wasn't sure which of them had gotten it first. Logan, he thought, looking around. She would have hit twice as hard as him. She wasn't even trying to stop, the fool.

"Make sure she's dead," he heard a high voice say, as chains wrapped around him. He looked frantically around for Logan.

"_Crucio_" he heard another voice say. He watched as Logan's body flopped around. She didn't make a sound. Didn't react at all. He wished he could look away.

When her body dropped back to the ground, he turned to face her tormentors. He felt ill when he was that it was Pettigrew.

"I'll kill you," he growled.

He heard the high voice again, laughing this time. "Has our little baby grown teeth?" it said. "I think he wants to see me, Wormtail. Why don't you bring me over to look on our guest?"

Harry struggled against the chains. He watched as Pettigrew brought a little bundle over to him. When he unwrapped it, Harry wanted to vomit. It was like staring at a nightmare, a monstrous cross between a snake and a small child.

"I don't think he likes what he made me into," the thing whispered in its high voice. It turned its head to face Pettigrew. "Now, Wormtail."

Harry watched as Pettigrew dropped the thing into a cauldron on top of a nearby grave. He realized, for the first time, that he was in a graveyard.

"_Bone_ _of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son_," Wormtail said. And Harry watched as the grave the cauldron sat on cracked and dust from within rose to fall into the cauldron.

"_Flesh of the servant, willingly given, you will revive your master,"_ Pettigrew said, weeping the whole time. He took a knife and sliced his own hand off, letting it fall into the potion.

"_Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe," _he intoned. Harry could do nothing as Pettigrew sliced into his arm, collecting his blood in a vial and dumping it into the cauldron with the rest.

Harry watched as the potion simmered and sparked and steamed. He looked on in horror as Voldemort emerged from the cauldron.

"My wand, Wormtail," he commanded in his high, horrible voice.

Voldemort strode over to Harry, putting his long-fingered hand against Harry's forehead. "And to think," Voldemort said, "that anyone truly believed I could be conquered by this _child_."

"Your arm, Wormtail," he demanded.

Harry watched as Voldemort grabbed onto Wormtail's left arm. Harry could see a tattoo of a skull and a snake. Voldemort touched his fingers to it. Harry felt his scar sear at the same moment Pettigrew screamed. He looked back to see that the tattoo had turned from red to black.

Harry stared at Logan's limp form. He looked back at Pettigrew. If he'd left well enough alone, if he'd asked for help, if he'd decided not to play tonight, would she still be alive?

He watched as forms began to arrive. They assembled in a circle around Voldemort. Harry tried to listen, tried to focus on the speech, but he could not stop staring at his sister, lying crumpled on the cemetery grass.

Still, he made part of his brain focus. He filed away names and details. If by some miracle he survived this, he needed to have gained something from it. Something that could help him destroy Voldemort.

When he heard Voldemort tell them to give Harry back his wand, he thought he'd gone mad. Cracked from the trauma.

He stared as Wormtail came and untied him, handing him back his wand. He listened in silence as Voldemort bragged. And then he ran.

He tailored his run to get him close to Logan, and pulled her body back behind a gravestone as Voldemort gave an evil laugh.

"Oh, does our hero miss his little friend?" he asked in his high, cruel voice. "We know she wasn't your sister, Evans. Wormtail here told us she survived. But who could have guessed two of our most sought after targets would be masquerading as twins?"

Voldemort shot off a curse, and it shattered the stone Harry hid behind. He gritted his teeth as the dust landed on Logan's bloodied face.

"_Crucio,"_ Voldemort said, and Harry felt pain like he'd never experienced before. He could hear himself screaming, but couldn't seem to stop. "Does that hurt?" Voldemort asked. "Do you want me to do it again?"

Harry felt the curse hit him again. He gritted his teeth, refusing to scream this time.

"Apparently it won't be a long duel," Voldemort said, displeased with Harry's silence. He took aim again. "_Avada Kedavra_ –"

"_Expeliarmus," _Harry said, at the same time. He watched as their wands connected, and used every ounce of will to ensure that his mastered Voldemort's. He trembled as golden strands of light enveloped them. And then he watched, dumbstruck as people began climbing out the end of Voldemort's wand.

He didn't recognize the first man that climbed out, but the second one he knew from his mother's photographs. It was his grandfather, the one who died trying to protect Harry.

He watched as they surrounded him, protected him. And when his grandfather told him what he needed to do, he didn't hesitate. The moment his granddad told him to go, he ran for Logan's body. He grabbed her and the snitch at the same time, and felt it transport him back to Hogwarts.

He landed on the pitch with another crash. The people were in a furor, shouting and screaming. He cradled Logan's head in his lap, weeping.

"Harry!" He heard his mum's voice.

He looked up. "I'm sorry," he said. "She died before they even –" He broke off. "Voldemort is back. He came back," he repeated.

Lily slid down to her knees. She leaned her forehead against Harry's and stroked a hand over Logan's still face. "Ok," she said. Harry could feel her tears falling on his own skin. "Ok," she said again.

"Harry," another voice said. He looked up to see Dumbledore staring down at him. Next to him stood James, looking shell shocked. "We need to get you up to the castle," Dumbledore said. "To the infirmary."

Harry felt his mum nod. "Yes," she said.

Dumbledore crouched down to face Harry. "You need to let her go now."

Harry shook his head. "No," he said, tightening his grip.

"No," Lily repeated. "We won't leave her here. We'll bring her up to the hospital wing with us," she said, staring down at her daughter.

Harry nodded slowly.

"I can levitate her," Dumbledore offered, but Harry shook his head.

"I'll carry her," he said.

"Harry," his father spoke for the first time. "You're hurt," he said. "I can take her up to the –"

Harry shook his head. "No," he said. "I'll take her." He bent down and lifted her into his arms. Resolutely he turned and made his way up to the castle. Whenever he stumbled, Lily and James steadied him. James didn't offer to carry her again though.

When they got to the hospital wing, Harry gently laid her on one of the beds. He stood next to it, unable to make himself turn away. "It was Pettigrew," he said, still staring down at her.

"What?" his parents chorused.

"It was Pettigrew that brought him back," he said. "If I hadn't tried to catch him, he may never have sought him out." He felt his mum lay a hand on his shoulder, and wanted to pull away.

"It's not your fault, love," she comforted him in a hoarse voice. "He wouldn't have been any less a danger loose in the castle."

"I could have told someone about him earlier. They could have come up with a better way to keep him locked up."

"It would have ended the same no matter what," James said. "The moment he was handed over to the ministry, he would have gotten away."

"I could have killed him."

"Killing in cold blood," Dumbledore said, "is not an easy thing to do. And it can damage you beyond repair."

"Do you think this doesn't?" Harry asked.

"I think losses like this may break your heart, but they leave your soul intact," Dumbledore said. He looked around at the family. "I'll leave you in private now," he said.

Harry felt his mum pull him into a hug. He had always expected to be the one that died if things went wrong with Voldemort. It had never occurred to him he could lose his family instead.


	15. Bleeding

Harry sat holding his sister's hand. His mother sat on her other side, stroking her hair. James had been called off when the aurors arrived.

Hary couldn't process anything. He stared blankly at Logan, and then at the wall above the bed, and then at the floor. He found it hard to look at his mum. He had never seen her break before. When Grandpa Jack died, she had been stoic. When Harry broke his arm falling off the top of a slide, she calmly gathered him up and brought him to the hospital. When Logan . . . Harry looked back at his sister, unable to contemplate the loss. He didn't want to think about how she had gotten into a car accident when she was fourteen. He didn't want to think about anything. He wished they made a potion for that.

Harry screwed up his courage and peered at his mum. She looked blank, empty. He must appear the same. Dark circles lay under her eyes and spider webs of blood vessels stood out on the whites of her eyes, tingeing the whole of them pink.

Harry watched as his mum cleaned off his sister's face, slowly dabbing at the blood on her forehead with a cloth already stained with red. He blinked slowly. Leaning forward, he brushed a fingertip across the same spot his mum had just wiped, right at Logan's hairline. It came away red. Bright red. The blood was fresh.

"Should she still be bleeding?" he asked. "Madam Pomfrey," he called, raising his voice. "Should she still be bleeding?" he repeated when she came out of her office.

"Dear," she said. "It's normal for it to seem like that, but-"

"No, it doesn't seem like that, it _is_ like that. Look," he said, wiping blood off of the same spot. He waited a few moments, and then showed her more fresh blood. "She's still bleeding."

The nurse stared, seeming baffled. She lifted Logan's wrist, pressing her fingers to it to check for a pulse. "I'm sorry, dear," she said. "But she's gone."

Harry shook his head. "No," he said. "I remember this from biology. If she were dead, she wouldn't still be bleeding. We're missing something."

He took her wrist, holding the pulse point for a long time. "There," he said. "Her heart's still beating. It's just really, really slow."

The nurse looked skeptical, but placed her fingers back on his sister's wrist. She looked ready to write him off again, but then her expression changed. "Merlin," she whispered. "I think you may be right."

She began doing a complicated set of spells. Harry tried to follow them. He had always been under the impression he and Logan were fairly well trained in healing, but it quickly became clear that Madam Pomfrey surpassed them in every way.

"It's almost as though she's hibernating," Madam Pomfrey muttered.

Harry felt a grin spread across his face. "I bet she is," he said. "I bet she invented some mad spell that would slow her heart rate and lower her body temperature and all that. And then when she hit the ground so hard, I bet she did it instinctively to protect herself from bleeding out."

"Harry," his mum cautioned. "We don't know anything yet," she said, clearly trying not to get her hopes up.

Harry shook his head. "We know she figured out how to calm you down through some sort of spell. I'll bet it's related. I'll bet anything. And if she knew how to do it, she knew how to undo it."

"Do you remember what the counterspell was when she was playing with how to calm me down?" his mum asked.

"Ummm . . ." Harry tried to think. "Damn. I remember she said it . . . I just can't seem to think . . ." He shoved away from the bed, frustrated.

"Harry," his mum said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I'm going to send for James to come get you. When he does, I want the two of you to go to Dumbledore's office. Tell him what's happened, and ask if you can use his Pensieve. It might help you remember the spell. Then see if Dumbledore can help you sort out how to alter it in these circumstances."

Harry didn't need telling twice.

* * *

_So, I just want to state for the record that this was planned from the beginning. But on rereading it, it does seem a bit Deus Ex Machina. Still, I'd ask that you suspend your disbelief (and for those of you who aren't Logan's biggest fan, your dislike), and just be happy for Harry and Lily. And James. And Fred._


	16. Time

It took far, far too long for anyone's comfort, but eventually they came up with the counter curse. When Logan stirred, Lily thought she might actually collapse from relief.

"Love," she said, gently brushing her daughter's cheek with the back of her fingers. She watched as Logan's eyelids fluttered.

"Mum?" Logan said. And then Lily did collapse, laying her head on her daughter's shoulder and weeping.

Logan opened her eyes to a very strange scene. Her mum was crying on her, and Harry, James, Madam Pomfrey, and Dumbledore were all standing over her. Harry and James both looked as though they'd been crying as well.

"We thought we'd lost you," Harry said in a hoarse voice.

Logan closed her eyes, trying to figure out how she'd gotten here. "I had a whole plan," she said. "I was going to use the pillow charm, you know the one we used to use when we'd jump off the roof," she elaborated. "That was my plan once I caught the snitch right out from under you. But then," she opened her eyes. "Then it's just blank."

"The snitch was a portkey," Harry said.

Logan stared at him. "That's a terrible idea," she said.

He choked out a laugh. "You're telling me."

"Where did it take me?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Us," he said. "We must have touched the snitch at the same time."

"Ha. We would tie," she said weakly. "Where did it take us?" Logan asked

Harry looked away. "A cemetery."

"That's cheerful."

When Harry didn't say anything, Logan did the math herself. "Was it Voldemort?" she asked. She closed her eyes when Harry gave a jerky nod. "Were you hurt?" she asked, opening her eyes and lifting a hand to touch his arm.

He shook his head. "Nothing major. You got the brunt of it," he said.

"Somehow I doubt that," she returned, letting her eyelids flutter closed again. After a long moment, she opened them. "He's back?"

Harry nodded.

"Full strength?"

This time Harry didn't respond right away. "I can't say for sure. I think so, yes," he decided. "His followers certainly didn't seem disappointed." He took a deep breath. "Pettigrew was the one who brought him back. You were right. I should have told you. It could have been differ-"

She shook her head. "It wouldn't have been any different. Us catching him together or you catching him alone wouldn't have affected whether or not he escaped in the end."

"I could have left him alone. Then this might not have happened."

"Or he might have taken you from your dorm in the middle of the night," she said. "This could have gone worse. We're both alive, aren't we?"

Harry made a choking sound. She thought it might have been a sob. "Yeah," he said. "We're both alive."

He broke down then. "I thought you were dead," he whispered. "I don't know what you did or how you did it, but I'm so glad you did," he said. "Voldemort told him to make sure you were dead. If you hadn't seemed –" he broke off, tried to gather himself. "If you hadn't seemed gone already, he would have killed you for sure."

"How did you get away?" she asked.

"Something happened with our wands." He shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Can I just . . . Can I just say I'm sorry. So sorry for not telling you about –"

"Doesn't matter. I shouldn't have been mad. It was stupid. You were only trying to protect me. I can't exactly blame you for being my brother, can I?" She closed her eyes again. "I'm sorry for being a brat about it."

She could hear him shake his head, but he seem able to speak.

"Mum?" she said, lifting her hand to touch her mother's hair.

"Yeah," her mum said, "I'll get it together soon. I promise," she sobbed.

"It's ok. We've got time."


	17. Dumbledore

"Lily," Dumbledore said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "When you're ready, I would like a chance to speak with you."

Lily nodded. She glanced significantly at James.

"I'll stay with her," he said, without Lily having to ask.

Lily looked at her son. "Stay with James, please," she said, getting a quick nod in return.

Gathering herself, Lily rose and walked out with Dumbledore.

"How –" she began, but he glanced sharply at her and shook his head.

Returning his attention to the route they were following, he quietly explained. "I would prefer to discuss this in my office," he said.

Lily nodded. Privacy made perfect sense.

Lily followed him as he quietly spoke his password and entered his office. "Do you know how he managed it?" she asked, the moment the door closed.

Dumbledore paused for a moment. "Based on Harry's explanation," he said, "I believe Voldemort has managed to circumvent the protection laid over Harry when your father sacrificed his life for him. The protection that I've added to over the years."

Lily sat down, resting her head in her hands. "We never should have come here," she said quietly. "I knew I should have followed my instincts to keep them away from wizards."

"The spell he used . . . It didn't have to be Harry," Dumbledore explained. "The blood of an enemy could have been any enemy. It could have been James, or Remus, or me, or Minerva, or any number of people who fought him. I am quite certain he chose Harry because he thought it would make him stronger, but he could have used someone else. Had you stayed away, Voldemort could have returned without us ever finding out."

"Or he might not have come back at all," she argued. "Without Pettigrew's help –"

Dumbledore shook his head. "Eventually, he was going to come back, Lily. Whether today, or next year –"

"But every year gives him a chance to get stronger, to grow and learn. If it only gives him another year to _live_ –" she said, voice breaking.

Dumbledore nodded. "I cannot begin to imagine how you must feel, but I can tell you I've been very impressed with your son. With both of them. You've taught them well."

"I still don't understand what happened tonight," she said. "Why did the wands react like that?"

"When you wrote to me, asked me to choose wands for them and bring them out to you," Dumbledore explained. "I chose for Harry the wand I thought best able to beat Voldemort. Contained within it is a feather from a phoenix, the same phoenix that gave a feather for Voldemort's wand. When they met, it produced an effect called Priori Incantatem, whereby Harry's wand forced Voldemort's to recreate, if you will, his last several spells in reverse order."

"Why didn't Voldemort's cause Harry's to do the same?" Lily asked.

"Harry's will must have been stronger than Voldemort's," Dumbledore said.

Lily smiled slightly. "I knew there had to be some benefit to having willful children," she said.

"Indeed," Dumbledore agreed, eyes twinkling.

Lily sighed. "What do we do now?" she said, resting her head in her hands once more.

"I think," Dumbledore spoke carefully, "it would be a mistake to try to hide again," he said. "Voldemort and his followers both know Harry and Logan are alive. It would have come out whenever he returned," he said, "but that time is now."

"So we just wait for him to come after Harry?" she asked.

"No," Dumbledore said. "Now we fight," he said. "I will reassemble the Order of the Phoenix-"

Lily gave him a look.

"I know you do not believe we have been very successful," he said. "But the fact of the matter is we have. We protected a great many people, and were more successful at fighting him than the ministry itself. In trusting Peter Pettigrew, we made a grave error in judgment. But that error has been rectified."

"And what if there are others?" she asked.

Dumbledore sighed. "If all we trust is ourselves, then all we have is ourselves. And I do not believe, extraordinary though he may be, that your son can fight off Voldemort and all of his followers by himself. He will need help."

Lily nodded slightly. "Does this mean you have a plan?"

"I have some . . . thoughts on the situation, that I would like to share with Harry."

"Alright," Lily said. "As long as he feels comfortable with it."

"Of course," Dumbledore said.

"Can I ask," Lily began, "would Logan's spell, the one that slowed her heartbeat so much, could it protect them from the killing curse?" She tried to keep the hope out of her tone. "Should I have them practice it –" she broke off when she saw the look on his face.

"I'm sorry, Lily. I wish that I could say yet. But the only known survivor of the killing curse is your son. Logan's spell protected her from the effect of the Cruciatus curse. Or, more specifically, it put her into a state where she could not feel or react to the spell. I believe, had he chosen to use it, the Avada Kedavra would still have killed her, even in her state of hibernation."

Lily sighed. "I just thought . . . I just wish there was some way to protect them."

"You've done what can be done," he assured her. "You've taught them how to protect themselves. How to learn, and fight, and think of their feet. You've given them the tools to survive. Now I need to give them what I have to offer."

She nodded. "I'm grateful for your help," she said. "When do you wish to begin?"

"My hope is that you will stay in England for the summer," he told her. "I believe that I can arrange for safe house for the three of you, and it will give me the opportunity to provide Harry with the information I believe he will need to defeat Voldemort in the end."

"I don't want the Order knowing where we live," she said in an apologetic tone. "I trust your judgment. And I'm willing to stay, to expose them to the Order. But I would like to know our home is safe."

He nodded. "In that case," he said, "you will need to choose a secret keeper."

"I think I'm well suited for that job," she declared.

He smiled. "I thought you might say that."

Lily returned his smile. Feeling they had discussed all that they needed to, she bid him goodnight and walked back to her children.


	18. Mothers and Fathers

She made her way through the halls, thoughts swirling in her head.

"Oh!" she said, bumping into someone outside the door to the hospital wing. "Mr. Weasley, what brings you here?"

"Alright, Ms. Evans?" he responded. Lily couldn't decide which twin stood in front of her. "I heard a rumor Logan was up here, and I thought . . ." he trailed off, shoving his hands in his pockets and rocking back and forth on his feet. Lily thought there might be a very crumpled flower gripped in his palm.

She smiled slightly. "Thought you'd check on her."

He nodded. "If it's alright," he said.

"I'll have to see how she feels about having visitors," she warned him. "I didn't realize the two of you had become friends."

"Still working on that," he said with a slight grin. "She's a bit prickly."

Lily laughed. "She's just got a hard shell. Absolute marshmallow on the inside."

"What's a marshmallow?" he asked, brows furrowed in confusion.

"A muggle treat," Lily responded. "Very soft and fluffy. You should ask Logan to show you how to make smores someday." She held up a hand. "And don't say _s'more of what_. I've seen _The Sandlot_ more times than I can count."

He gave her a baffled look, but refrained from saying anything.

"Wait here a moment," she said. "I'll speak to her."

Lily walked into the hospital wing. James, Harry, and Logan all sat there talking.

"Good," Harry said. "We were just discussing what Dumbledore might be telling you."

Lily gave him a look that closed his mouth.

"About the food in the hospital wing," Logan added hastily. "I'm very concerned."

"Speaking of concern," Lily said. "One of the Weasley twins is outside." She jerked her head in the direction of the door. "Seems to want to see how you're doing."

Lily tried not to laugh out loud when James straightened his shoulders, looking less than pleased.

"That'll be Fred," Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"I can never tell them apart," Lily explained. "And when I try to, they always tell me the wrong answer. Or tell me the right answer knowing I won't believe them, or . . ." She shook her head. "I've reached the point where I just call them both Mr. Weasley and leave it at that."

"They probably get a kick out of that," Harry said, laughing.

"I'm sure, but it's better than the alternative." She glanced at Logan. "Should I tell him to come back later?"

"That depends. If we're going to discuss the hospital food, yes. If not, he might as well come in now."

Lily smiled. "We'll discuss hospital food later," she decided.

Walking back over to the door, she ushered Fred inside. He walked over to the bed, remembering at the last moment the flower he carried. He offered the crushed daisy to Logan, seeming to realize as he held it out how pitiful it looked. He jerked it back.

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't realize I'd pulled that out. It's just a little thing I add to my pockets now and again, you know, for odor control." He blinked, obviously realizing how odd that sounded. "Of the pockets. Because sometimes I have to carry dodgy stuff in there, what for pranks and –"

Logan laughed. "We were going to play some cards," she said, throwing him a rope. "Do you want to join?"

He nodded. "You're looking at the reigning king of exploding snap," he said.

Harry shook his head. "Well, your highness. Unfortunately, we were planning on playing a different game."

"Sure," he said. "I'm up for it. What were you thinking?"

"Rich man, poor man," Harry said, tossing a look at Logan.

"That only works if James or Mum want to play," she said.

Harry looked at his parents. "Sure, I'll give it a go," James said, obviously pleased with the invitation. And the chance to keep an eye on Fred. Lily simply nodded.

* * *

"So," Harry said, walking back to his mum's quarters. "You aren't actually intending to keep us under permanent guard at Hogwarts, are you?" he asked.

She threw him a sideways look. "I'm considering it."

"Didn't this prove that we don't need it?" he tried.

"Harry."

"I mean it," he declared. "We made it. Both of us. I think that has to count for something. And none of us can live if we can never go anywhere without you or James escorting us."

"It's going to get a lot worse, Harry," she told him. "You are in a great deal more danger now than you were two days ago."

Harry shook his head. "I don't think I am, really. The same people that want to kill me now are the same people that wanted to before."

"But now they know where you are."

Harry looked around. "And that's about the safest place I could be," he said. "I know you're worried. I understand that. But do you really think the farm had more protective spells than _Hogwarts_?"

"I think the farm had fewer people who knew who you were."

"And fewer people to help me fight if the need ever came," he said. He paused for a moment, trying to decide. "I think we should tell James," he said finally. "He deserves to know."

She didn't say anything.

"You can't tell me you don't trust him. You sent me off with him, just the pair of us, before you were ready to trust anyone with us," he pointed out. "What's there to gain from not telling him?"

She sighed. "I suppose you're right. It's just so –"

"Second nature," he said. "Keeping all this a secret is like breathing. It's been a necessity as long as I can remember. But it's not going to be a secret any longer. And I'd like for him to find out from us, rather than rumors."

Lily nodded. "Do you want me to tell him?"

Harry shrugged. "I'll leave it up to you," he said. "If it's something you feel like he should hear from you, then you should tell him. If not, I can tell him."

"I'll tell him," she said, after a long moment.

He nodded.

"For now," she added with a sigh, "let's just focus on setting up the quarters."

"Yeah," Harry said. "About that. You know I have a dorm, and a bed, right?"

Lily put her arm around his shoulder. "I do. You know I'm a mum, right?"

"You'll get past that soon though, yeah?" he tried, hopefully.

"Mothers never outgrow being mothers, Harry. You'll just have to accept it. And for tonight, if only for tonight, I want both of you close by." She shook her head. "You'll understand when you have kids."

"Is this locked in the dungeon Harry you expect to have kids, or . . ."

She smiled. "I expect you to survive whether I lock you in a dungeon or not," she said. "And to that end, Dumbledore is going to start giving you private lessons, if you're willing."

Harry stopped in his tracks. "Truly?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Excellent."


End file.
